During the previous tax cycle, COGS has been very active, collaborating with a plethora of internal and external entities to expand what the group offers its constituents. One can look at the discounted City of East Lansing parking permit program, the increased funding COGS has offered to student organizations for events that bring students together and the multitude of ongoing activities COGS has held for national Graduate & Professional Student Appreciation Week, as examples of COGS’ cooperative approach. This mindset has led to more services and events for graduate and professional students to enjoy without a need to ask for a tax increase.

At its core, COGS’ mission is to advocate for advance degree students. Whether working to ensure adequate assistance for the large number of student parents in our population, uniting with our partners at the Graduate Employees Union to ensure better healthcare coverage or asking the university to recognize the support needed by the diverse international graduate and professional student population, COGS has been integral to many efforts that have led to positive change.

This includes increased access to MSU athletics and theatrical events and the pilot program the MSU libraries are conducting on how to better support Ph.D. students in the dissertation writing stage.

I am forever grateful to the student leaders who come from programs across the campus to volunteer their time to serve our population. Their efforts to make life better for all of us are outstanding. COGS is continually improving, seeking new ways of reaching out to the population it serves. This development will continue during the next three years through a sustained expansion in services, representation and funding. In order to fulfill this promise, I respectfully ask my peers to continue supporting one of the oldest, independent graduate and professional student governments in the nation.

Stefan Fletcher, President, MSU Council of Graduate Students